they should just hire the guys who did eternal darkness to do the interface. I finally picked it up, and the whole time, I'm thinking...this is a total RE ripoff, but the interface is much better.

Yes. Looking at the graphics there is no way it come out on the PS2 unless the graphics were seriously downgraded. The Xbox is a possiblility, but for now its a Cube exclusive.

I'd be hard-pressed to call Eternal Darkness a Resident Evil rip-off. They aren't that much alike.

Are you serious?

They had some original touches, like the spells, multiple playable characters... but it was pretty similar to RE overall. It definately felt familiar to me anyway, with the inventory system, combining items, examing other items for clues, spooky mansion, etc...

However, I think it was more akin to "Alone in the Dark", probably the first "survival horror" game most people played.

The control system was a lot more fluid though... I loved the ability to aim at certain parts of the body. I hope RE4 gets rid of the clunky RE controls we've always put up with in the past.

See, that's the thing with Groucho...you just never know. I HOPE it was sarcasm because I agree with pretty much every point you made.

Grouch, if you were serious...again, i can never tell...i know the stories are quite a bit different, but you must know that ED was the N64 answer to the PS exclusive RE, and they felt a lot alike in a lot of ways.

I don't really think ED is that similar to RE at all. The main difference is that RE is a survival horror game and ED is more of an adventure game.

In RE you're encourged to avoid enemies, as you have limited
health and ammo (with the non ammo weapons being useless).

In ED you usually have plenty of ammo, can heal yourself nearly limitlessly with spells, the swords are the best weapons in most levels, and you are further encouraged to fight as killing mosters keeps you from going insane.

The only real similarity is the atmosphere and that they are "scary" games.

I was serious. Apart from the "survival horror" aspect, it doesn't feel anything like Resident Evil. To call Eternal Darkness a "rip-off' is, IMHO, really tearing down an excellent game.

I agree with the post that says it's more like Alone in the Dark. Much better comparison, although again...it's not a rip-off.

Yup, besides both being "scary" games, RE and ED are totally different. Silent Hill is more of a RE ripoff IMO.

We recently got a memo stating that new games were in our P.O.S (point of sale) for pre order. One of the titles added was Resident Evil 4 for XBOX? I have a feeling this is a MAJOR typo, but seeing as how my boss doesnt keep up to date with gaming news, or anything other than what he thinks is news (I mean for crying out loud this is the guy who told customers not to buy a GC because of rumors that Nintendo was going out of business) he will simply tell everyone its coming to XBox and then he'll look dumb when its released on the GC. Not that I wouldnt buy RE 4 if it was on XB I just dont see how the company (the one I work for) make such a error. Then again we are also taking pre-orders for GTA 4 "San Andreas".

Also this is OT but can anyone confirm if Metal Slug 3 has ben cancelled for PS2? Now our store is saying its coming to the XB.

Color me confused.

Just the reason I avoid game stores like the plague. Just going into one lowers your IQ. There are some good employees who know what's going on, but it seems like most are like zero's boss.

as Pixy would say

Quoted for truth.

I do my best to make sure a lot of my customers dont listen to him its been one of many reasons Ive been thinking about moving on, Im so conflicted because I love gaming despite the fact I work in such a place. Perhaps its time I looked into getting a QA job.

Same thing again, as with Eternal Darkness (not that I've played that one). I would say Silent Hill series are very different games from Resident Evil.

- RE clearly has the more developed combat engine which is a bigger part of the gameplay while combat takes a back seat in silent hill. Similarly it has more of an emphasis on real time skill in being able to react quickly and limits the ability to save games (eg. printer ribbon etc.). Silent Hill lets you save almost anywhere.
- RE uses more shock tactics to scare you (eg. zombies jumping out at you) while Silent Hill is more about just freaky weird shitm
- The story/plot/settings are absolutely nothing alike.

I enjoy being able to sit back (relatively) and just be scared as with the Silent Hill games, rather than having to fight horrible controls, cursing the lack of save points, juggling items, etc. When it comes down to it I don't find the RE games particularly scary anyway which is surely the entire point.

Of course looks like they've finally turned the series around with RE 4 so I'll be interested to see how that turns out.

Silent Hill you can only save where you see the red napkin - so that's just like the typewriter... however, you do get as many saves as you want I think... on the other hand, in RE, I've never once ran out of ink ribbons.

Also - I think the combat engine in Silent Hill is about the same as RE. Limited ammo, melee weapons, etc... I think the difference is that in RE, you are encouraged to eliminate all enemies while on Silent Hill, you use your weapons to supress them and keep them away from you for the most part so you can escape - and you can basically save up your ammo for the end fight. I don't think one is a rip off of the other - they're both good games in the same genre. Alone in the Dark came out before either of these didn't it? 1992? Wasn't that before Resident Evil?

As for Eternal Darkness - I didn't think it was scary or very good, but I only played it through where you are turned into some gladiator soldier and then back to the chick again and then I just got disinterested. It totally has to do with my personal taste... it's probably a good game if you can stick with it.

Er yeah, mental failure for a second there. I think because they are really frequent so I've never had an issue saving when I need to that caused that mental fade.

Feels like there's more typewriters than red napkins - maybe it's just me.

I just had a thought regarding the new changed story for RE4. Keep in mind that this is just my theory that's only valid if the new story is indeed Umbrella-less as the rumors state. I reckon that Capcom was not happy with the sales of RE0 and the follow up's on the GC. As such they changed the story for RE4 to be more of a side-story so that when their exclusivity agreement is over with Nintendo, they can go back to telling the real story on Playstation or multiple formats.

Just my hunch based on the info released so far. Not bashing GC either since the game looks amazing.

IGN has updated with hands-on impressions and a new interview with the producer of RE4...

Also someone posted this gif animation of RE4 in motion:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/snoopy2knj/biohazard.gif

There are. But in SH you have the piece of mind to save as often as you like without having to worry about running out of ink ribbons. I HATE replaying stuff so I like to save as often as possible in games. So really neither system is ideal to me.